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Twenty years ago people were lucky to find balsamic vinegar on the grocery shelf. Now trendy tasting bars offer dozens of different balsamics. Customers can taste samples in small cups or on squares of French bread, then choose the size bottle they want. Even supermarkets now offer an assortment of grades and prices. Photo by Elizabeth Trail

copyright the Chronicle July 29, 2015

by Elizabeth Trail

“Try this, you won’t believe it,” said my mother, pushing a small bowl of thinly sliced strawberries toward me. She had the look on her face of someone about to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

I plop food on a plate; my mother creates edible art. I eyed the berries skeptically. These were in a footed glass bowl, garnished with a sprig of mint. The fruit looked dark and glossy, but the lighter inner parts were slightly orange, and there was undeniably a brown liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Not a color I usually associate with summer fruit salad, however elegantly presented.

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In mid-July, Steffie took reserve champion in Open Training Level Dressage at the Arabian Horse Association Regional Horse Show in Springfield, Massachusetts. She also placed in the top five in the amateur division. Photo courtesy of Melissa Mount

copyright the Chronicle July 29, 2015

by Tena Starr

NEWPORT — Melissa Mount of Westfield got her first pony when she was three years old. It was a Shetland, a small pony, which is the reason parents tend to buy them for children — despite the fact that they have anything but a cooperative nature.

The romance with horses ends for many kids as they become adolescent, but not for Melissa Mount. Somewhere in her youth, she got hooked on dressage, and now she and her eight-year-old Arabian mare are headed for the national championships in North Carolina, to be held in September.

The pair has qualified, which puts them among a small number of Vermonters who have done well enough at that demanding sport to get to the nationals.

On July 11, Ms. Mount and Steffie (registered name Profit’s Sweet Steps) took reserve champion in…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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Addison Merrick (left) and his longtime friend Seymour Leven were captured together in a video made last year. Photo by Catherine Dunbar

copyright the Chronicle July 29, 2015

by Joseph Gresser

Addison Merrick of Craftsbury died at the University of Vermont Medical Center on Tuesday, July 21, from the effects of a traffic accident a few days earlier.

According to a press release from State Trooper Steven Fauteux, Mr. Merrick was headed north on Route 14 in Craftsbury around 5:15 p.m. He attempted a left turn onto the Wild Branch Road, but turned into oncoming traffic.

Mr. Merrick’s 2000 Subaru Legacy collided head on with a Honda truck driven by Scott Smith, 57, of Hardwick. His car was totaled, while Mr. Smith’s truck sustained front-end damage.

No injuries to Mr. Smith were reported by Trooper Fauteux, but Mr. Merrick was transported to Copley Hospital in Morrisville, and then to Burlington.

Mr. Merrick was 91 years old, and a well-respected member of the Craftsbury community where he often taught classes on…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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Arthur Brooks at his home on Lake Willoughby. Mr. Brooks has spent three or four summers measuring the lake and discovered that it’s at least 337 feet deep, although the state map says it’s 308 feet at its deepest point. Photos by Tena Starr

copyright the Chronicle July 29, 2015

by Tena Starr

WESTMORE — Lake Willoughby is deep, but until recently just how deep it is has been questionable. State watershed maps say it’s 308 feet at its deepest point.

Arthur Brooks differs. For three or four summers, Mr. Brooks has been traversing Willoughby in his boat taking depth measurements, and has found its deepest point to be 337 feet, making it the deepest lake entirely in Vermont. Lake Champlain is deeper, but part of it is in New York.

Mr. Brooks and his wife, Ann, spend their summers on Lake Willoughby, and he is currently president of the Westmore Association. He’s retired now, but for about 40 years the couple lived…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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Pictured from left, Joan Alexander of the Glover Historical Society, writer Dolores E. Chamberlain, and Earl Randall of the Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association were the presenters on Monday night at a meeting on local history at the Barton library. Photo by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

copyright the Chronicle July 22, 2015

by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

BARTON — The area here changed drastically in the last century. Where Barton was a hub of activity, now the industry is gone and once-busy factory buildings are crumbling.

This was part of the focus of Earl Randall’s presentation on Barton’s history, which he gave at the library here on Monday. About ten people came to the meeting, to hear from different presenters about the stories, people, and general history of the area.

Mr. Randall, of the Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association, Joan Alexander of the Glover Historical Society, and writer Dolores E. Chamberlain presented the work they’ve done on the area to keep memories alive.

Mr. Randall brought old pictures of Barton and used a pointer to bring attention to different businesses that were once here, what happened to them, and what replaced them.

What made Barton the economic and social center of Orleans County were…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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Pictured here with the dolls that she makes is Camilla Mead, president of the Wooden Horse Arts Guild. The guild aims to build the local community through the arts and provide a space for artists to come together. Photo by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

copyright the Chronicle July 22, 2015

by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

NORTH TROY — The Wooden Horse Arts Guild, or WHAG, is adding a new event to the Aquafest in Newport on August 1: a plein air paint out. Artists can bring their materials and paint outdoors during the festival.

The live painting initiative is one of many activities WHAG organizes in order to benefit both the community and local artists.

Artists have few options if they want to display their work and sell it. A common one is having a gallery display the art in exchange for a commission on a sale, sometimes as much as 50 percent of the sale price.

WHAG gives artists and crafters an alternative. The nonprofit guild doesn’t require a commission, and its permanent gallery is located online.

For $50 a year, artists get their own webpage on the WHAG website, complete with…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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The view from the Hill Farmstead tasting room shows the brewing floor, with Mr. Hill at his post in the center of the operation. At left are the four tanks in which malt, water, and hops are cooked together. At right are rows of fermenting and conditioning tanks. At the far end of the building is the station at which kegs are filled. The entire operation is tied together with an elaborate system of pipes that run across the room’s ceiling.

copyright the Chronicle July 22, 2015

by Joseph Gresser

GREENSBORO — When the Chronicle first visited Shaun Hill in 2010, he was brewing beer in a converted garage. It would be a few months before he released his first offerings, but Mr. Hill already had serious ambition.

“My goal is to make the best beer in the world,” he said.

He looked forward to expanding his production facility to the size of the barn that once stood on the property where he makes his beer, land that has been in his family for well over 200 years.

Three years later Hill Farmstead Brewery was recognized as…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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John Ward and a double stand at a party honoring Newport’s City Manager, who officially retired on July 15. The 50 or so guests had a hard time telling which was the real John Ward, especially since both candidates were dressed in his clothing. Perhaps Mr. Ward’s administrative assistant, Laurel Wilson, could have resolved the question, but she was unaccountably absent when the second Mr. Ward strolled into the room. Photo by Joseph Gresser

copyright the Chronicle July 15, 2015

by Joseph Gresser

NEWPORT — Wednesday, July 15, is the last day on the job for Newport City Manager John Ward Jr., who is winding up his 16-year run and preparing for retirement.

“I’m grateful for the job, otherwise I probably would have had to leave Newport,” he said in an interview at the Newport Municipal Building July 9.

For a lifetime resident of a city that he clearly loves, that would have been a tough burden to bear, but after the city council’s original choice for the job decided not to accept it, Mr. Ward was tapped. Paul Monette and Richard Baraw, two of the aldermen who voted to make him city manager in March 1999, continued to serve on the council for most of Mr. Ward’s service.

Mr. Monette is now mayor, and Mr. Baraw….To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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Justin Heller (right) and Tyler Howard (left) cooked for about 400 people on July 11 at Brewfest. Mr. Howard manned the grill, and Mr. Heller was in charge of smoking meat, a task he started four days before the event. Photo by Nathalie Gagnon-Joseph

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Noah Manning welcomes Dartmouth College President Philip Hanlon to Miller’s Run School in Sheffield. Jill (Tune) Faulkner (back, left), chairman of the Miller’s Run board, and Principal Sikander Rashid (back, right) paused from their work feeding the 50 or so local residents who turned out to meet President Hanlon, and listened to the Miller’s Run graduate speak. Photo by Joseph Gresser

copyright the Chronicle July 15, 2015

by Joseph Gresser

SHEFFIELD — Noah Manning, a sophomore at Dartmouth College, brought a school friend home recently. He was Philip Hanlon, the president of Dartmouth. His visit to Miller’s Run School, where Mr. Manning got his early education, brought out a crowd for a community meal and a celebration of the link between an Ivy League school and a Northeast Kingdom town.

When Eleazer Wheelock founded Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1769, he had a problem: His plan of educating native Americans and English missionaries was not calculated to bring in a great deal of money. He appealed to the Republic of Vermont for assistance, but aside from expressions of moral support, the Legislature offered little in the way of tangible support during his life.

John Wheelock, Eleazer’s son, became… To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe: